Creates a Powerfully Moving Entertainment Experience

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Dolby Atmos in the Cinema, at Home, and on the Go

Up to now, cinema sound designers have had to mix independent sounds together into channels for soundtrack creation. If a scene required, say, a helicopter taking off, that sound had to be assigned to an individual channel and mixed together with other sounds.

While that helicopter could move across channels, it couldn't go above you. You wouldn't hear it as you would in real life.

Introducing Audio Objects

Dolby Atmos is the first audio format based on audio objects rather than channels. In Dolby Atmos, any sound—the helicopter, a blaring car horn, a yelling child—can exist as an independent audio object, free of channel restrictions. It can be placed and moved anywhere, including anywhere overhead.

Filmmakers can now focus on telling the story. They can place sounds where they would occur naturally in a scene, rather than compromising the artistic intent by having to place them into channels. Sounds move in three-dimensional space—flowing above and around you in step with the visuals to bring a new sense of height and reality. Dolby Atmos puts you in the middle of the action—in ways you have never before experienced. And it adapts to any playback environment—in the cinema, at home, or on the go.

Technical Details

Supports up to 128 simultaneous independent audio objects in a mix for rich, realistic, and breathtaking sound.

Descriptive metadata captures all the director's intent and provides customized playback for the cinema, home theater, and mobile device.

In the Cinema

Scales easily to any size cinema, with up to 64 independent speaker outputs.

In the Home

Advanced Dolby® codecs and our sophisticated rendering process scale and adapt the original cinema experience to your home theater, from seven speakers to as many as 34, recreating the intent of the filmmaker.

On the Go

The Dolby Atmos renderer on the device takes the spatial information from the audio objects created for the cinema and renders them in three-dimensional space over headphones. Combining the object-based audio with binaural headphone rendering, which relies on outer ear and shoulder cues, Dolby Atmos reconstructs a natural, immersive sound experience.

Compatibility

Dolby Atmos content is fully compatible for playback on conventional stereo and on 5.1- and 7.1-channel systems.

Dolby Atmos for Professionals

Content Creators

Tell your story more powerfully, with unprecedented control over the placement and movement of sound within the theatre.

Distributors

Greatly simplifies your operations by eliminating multiple format inventories. With Dolby Atmos, the same file will play in any theatre.

Cinema Exhibitors

Delivers a compelling experience that your audiences can get only at the cinema and optimizes playback for any speaker configuration.

Dolby Atmos for Content Creators

Dolby Atmos is a revolutionary new audio platform that gives you unprecedented and precise control over the placement and movement of sound within a movie theatre. You can tell your stories far more powerfully than ever before. Combining products, services, and technologies, Dolby Atmos represents a complete end-to-end audio platform for movies well into the future.

Follows Existing Workflow

New Possibilities and Efficiencies

Dynamic Audio Objects

Added to the traditional channel-based workflow, these allow you to control discrete sound elements in the theatre. Objects are static or can move and are controlled by metadata.

Dolby Rendering and Mastering Unit (RMU)

The brain of the Dolby Atmos platform, the RMU provides the rendering engine for the mix stage, plus tools for room configuration, management, and print mastering. Using MADI–based audio connectivity, the RMU connects to the mix client via Ethernet.

Dolby Atmos Monitor Application

Enables communication with the RMU. It provides metering and monitoring control, visual feedback and mix information for the mixer, print-mastering controls, and transport control for playback of existing print masters on the RMU.

Simplified Approach

Sound mixers can efficiently capture the director's vision and then monitor or automatically generate 5.1- and 7.1-channel versions in real time. All the artistic intent is embedded in a file within a single DCP.

Dolby Atmos Panner Plug-in for Avid Pro Tools

AAX Native plug-in for Pro Tools® 10 systems or later, controlled directly from any control surface compatible with Pro Tools. Includes three-dimensional panning control for audio objects, user control for object size, and preset elevation modes.

Dolby Secure Content Creator SCC2000

Third-Party Mixing Tools

AMS Neve DFC

AMS Neve has updated the Digital Film Console (DFC) to natively support mixing in Dolby Atmos. For more information and support, please visit the AMS Neve website.

Harrison Consoles with IKIS Automation Engine

Any Harrison MPC or Trion™ console running the IKIS™ automation engine can be updated to allow direct communication to the Dolby Atmos RMU and object control from each console channel. For information, please visit the Harrison Consoles website.

Avid Pro Tools and System 5

Integration with Pro Tools is achieved through the Dolby Atmos Panner plug-in. The plug-in sends metadata to the RMU and allows control of audio objects in a mix. For more information, please see the Authoring for Dolby Atmos Cinema Sound Manual.

Dolby Atmos for Distributors

Dolby Atmos represents a new era in movie distribution. This revolutionary new audio platform for the cinema greatly simplifies movie distribution by eliminating the need for multiple format inventories. With Dolby Atmos, the same file will play in any theatre and faithfully reproduce the director's intent for the movie.

Preserves Creative Intent

Dolby Atmos frees content creators to explore new ways of matching audio to onscreen visuals and makes it easy for you to deliver their intentions intact to your audience.

Delivers the Best Possible Experience

Dolby Atmos captures the artistic intent for a wide variety of theatre configurations at the time of mixing and embeds that information in the DCP. It ensures a consistent experience in any theatre, from 5.1 or 7.1 up to 64 channels.

Technology Highlights

Dolby Atmos supports up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio streams and allows up to 64 discrete speaker feeds. It includes overhead speakers and adds side surrounds closer to the screen for improved transitions.

The Solution You've Been Waiting For

Offer your cinema audience a unique experience: Dolby Atmos audio surpasses anything available outside the theatre. And because it works across a range of theatre configurations, you can upgrade cinemas over time and realize improvements with each step.

A Revolutionary Audio Platform

Simplifies Inventory

One DCP and one key will play in any theatre in a complex.

Adapts to Your Theatre

Dolby Atmos captures the director's intent and brings it intact to any theatre of any size and configuration, from 5.1 and 7.1 up to 64 channels. It ensures that the audience experience is always the best possible for your specific playback environment.

Technology Highlights

Dolby Atmos combines distinct sound elements with traditional channel-based audio content. It supports up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio streams and allows for up to 64 discrete speaker feeds.

Delivers a New Experience

Dolby Atmos redefines the cinema experience by offering content creators new ways to tell their stories. It adds the ability to control distinct sound elements in a soundtrack to the traditional channel-based approach for mixing.

A Scalable Solution for Theatre Owners

If you want to get the most from your theatres now while looking to the future, Dolby Atmos provides your ideal solution. You can make upgrades at once or incrementally, and at every point Dolby Atmos maximizes the audio performance of your theatre.

Dolby Atmos: A Revolution in Home Theater

The cinema, with its giant screen and massive sound system, will always be the reference for the ultimate entertainment experience. Dolby Atmos cinema systems have up to 64 independently powered speaker outputs.
While home theaters have fewer speakers, Dolby Atmos provides an extremely powerful experience. It continues to convey the full, original artistic intent, far beyond what has previously been possible in home audio reproduction.

Technical Background

Audio Objects

With Dolby Atmos, any sound can be rendered as a single audio element, an object, independent from the rest of the soundtrack. A child yelling, a helicopter taking off, a blaring car horn—the filmmaker can decide exactly where the sound should originate and where it should move as the scene develops.

This approach allows the filmmakers to concentrate on the story. For channel-based audio, filmmakers must determine which speakers should reproduce which sounds, an approach that could compromise the artistic intent. With Dolby Atmos, filmmakers simply determine where the sound should be located, and the system intelligently makes the speaker-assignment decisions. Audio objects originate and move anywhere in three-dimensional space, including anywhere overhead. You will experience a soundtrack as you would in a natural environment.

Dolby Atmos supports up to 128 simultaneous audio objects in a cinematic mix. These include stationary sounds that are reproduced through all the speakers, such as a music background. Content mastered for home reproduction includes all the audio objects from the original film, placed in three-dimensional space just as in the cinema.

Optimal Playback Everywhere

Descriptive metadata accompanies every Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Using this metadata, the rendering block in an A/V receiver (AVR) adapts the soundtrack to the home environment and its specific speaker setup.

Content Delivery

For home theaters, Dolby Atmos will initially be delivered via Blu-ray Disc™ or through streaming video services. All decoding, rendering, and processing is managed by the Dolby Atmos enabled AVR. Dolby Atmos content plays through standard Blu-ray™ players and streaming media players connected to the AVR via HDMI® and with the bitstream output function engaged. As with the cinema, Dolby Atmos content for the home enables compatible playback through conventional 5.1- and 7.1-channel systems.

Your Dolby Atmos Home Theater Setup

Dolby Atmos combines traditional home theater speaker layouts with additional speaker positions. These include either on-ceiling speakers or new Dolby Atmos enabled speakers designed to reproduce the overhead height layer of objects and sound.

The good news: if you already have a 5.1, 7.1, or greater surround sound system, you'll most likely be able to build on it. And it need not take up any more space than your current system.

What You'll Need

Playing Dolby Atmos Content

Dolby Atmos content is delivered on Blu-ray Disc or through streaming video services. To play it back, you'll need any of the following equipment:

Blu-ray player. Current and recent products that fully conform to the Blu-ray specification are advised.

Streaming media player, or a Blu-ray player or game console with streaming ability.

Whichever you choose, set the player to bitstream output and connect to the receiver via HDMI. (Be sure to also disengage the secondary audio feature on your Blu-ray player.)

Dolby Atmos is compatible with the current HDMI specification (v1.4 and later).

A Dolby Atmos A/V Receiver

You'll need an AVR, preamp/processor, or home theater in a box (HTIB) that supports Dolby Atmos. This component handles all of the necessary signal processing and rendering. Leading AVR manufacturers are introducing these products now, with more to come.

New Dolby Atmos enabled speakers. This is the more practical alternative for most setups.
Dolby Atmos enabled speakers are specially engineered to direct sound upward, where it reflects off the ceiling to produce an incredibly lifelike re-creation of overhead sound.

Dolby Atmos enabled speakers come in two versions:

Integrated units that also include traditional forward-firing speakers.

Add-on modules, containing only the upward-firing elements, that you can place on top of your current speakers or on a nearby surface.
Dolby Atmos enabled speakers are designed to work best in rooms with ceilings that are from eight to 14 feet (2.4 to 4.3 meters) in height and that have acoustically reflective surfaces, such as drywall or plaster.

Basic Setup

You will need at least two speakers, either overhead or Dolby Atmos enabled, that can generate overhead sound and objects. For the best reproduction of Dolby Atmos, we recommend four speakers.

Dolby Atmos home theaters can be built upon traditional 5.1 and 7.1 layouts. For Dolby Atmos, the nomenclature differs slightly: a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system is a traditional 7.1 layout with four ceiling or Dolby Atmos enabled speakers.